JORDAN'S NEW FM ON IRAQ, PALESTINIAN REFORM

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 008865 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/28/2014 TAGS: PREL IZ KPAL JO SUBJECT: JORDAN'S NEW FM ON IRAQ, PALESTINIAN REFORM REF: A. AMMAN 8794 (NOTAL) ¶B. AMMAN 8812 (NOTAL) ¶C. CAIRO 7832 (NOTAL) Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. David Hale, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) Charge and A/DCM paid an introductory call on Hani Al-Mulki, who was named Foreign Minister October 24 (ref A). Al-Mulki said he looked forward to continuing the close cooperation between the GOJ and USG, and expressed appreciation for the Secretary's congratulatory phone call October 25. Iraq neighbors' conference: Draft communiqu ¶2. (C) Al-Mulki said the draft communiqu, recently circulated by Egyptian FM Abul Ghaith in advance of the November 23 Iraq Neighbors' Conference in Sharm el Sheikh, needed to stress "national/national general elections." An endorsement of mere "general elections," Mulki feared, might be the first step toward international recognition of polls that left Sunni Arabs under-represented. "You can have so-called general elections in Kurdish areas and in Shia areas and still leave many Sunnis out." Iraq neighbors' conference: Non-governmental sphere ¶3. (C) Al-Mulki noted that the French and other European governments had been pressing for the inclusion of at least some Iraqi oppositionists. Al-Mulki indicated that he had reservations about this, and recognized in addition that this was not in accord with USG wishes. He and other Arab ministers were hoping to find some middle ground between European and American preferences. His goal, he repeated several times, was to accommodate both parties "without derailing" the conference or the non-Arab powers' contributions to it. Iraq neighbors' conference: Security sphere ¶4. (C) Al-Mulki also said he was in discussions with other Arab governments holding a meeting in Egypt November 22 of Arab interior and security ministers. He said "the Saudis are not keen on it." But since "the security sphere" was the first concern of both the IIG and Iraq's neighbors, it needed to be discussed just as much as the governmental and political/civil society "spheres." Task Force on Palestinian Reform ¶5. (SBU) Al-Mulki confirmed the GOJ's welcome of plans to host a meeting November 9 of the capitals-level Task Force on Palestinian Reform (C-TFPR) at one of the Jordanian Dead Sea resorts, being organized by the U.S. as current chair. Although Al-Mulki himself would be out of country, the MFA would host an Iftar dinner for the meeting. ¶6. (U) Septel will report conversation on Article 98. ¶7. (SBU) Al-Mulki, who was serving as Ambassador to Egypt at the time of his appointment to the new government, plans to return to Cairo October 30 for about a week to wrap up his personal affairs. Ref B provides biographical background on Al-Mulki. ¶8. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. HALE